Does writing the best blog in the world matter if nobody can find it? Creating a great piece of content is certainly an important factor in being found online. After all, that’s what keeps people hanging around.
But being found is about activities that happen behind the scenes—activities you must do if you want your dream clients to find you.
Fact: The best marketing strategies for online business fall short if you don’t make Google happy (i.e. you ignore search engine optimization).
Unless you are sending something directly to dream clients, they will need to find it on their own. And they’re going to do that by typing (or speaking) something into a browser search bar.
Why doesn’t my website show up in Google Search?
There are many reasons your website doesn’t show up in Google search—too many to go into in this overview post. I’m leaving most of that discussion to one instruction: Check out Google’s very own guide on optimizing for search.
There are six primary reasons websites don’t show up in search. The key to how to be found online rests in addressing them.
6 reasons your website isn’t showing up in Google Search
- You’re not using good SEO guidelines to write or create findable content (like these from the Content Marketing Institute).
- You haven’t done keyword research to determine exactly what your dream clients are looking for.
- You aren’t using one H1 and multiple H2 tags on web pages. These help your ranking by breaking up text on the page.
- You haven’t customized the metadata (title, keywords, and description tag) to specifically describe the page content. I use Yoast for this and love it!
- You aren’t linking to other pages on your website. Doing this increases the content value search engine spiders assign to your pages. The easiest way to do this is to have something at the end that says Relevant Content and links to three pages or blogs
- You haven’t included alt tags on your photos and other images so they appear in image searches.
The best marketing strategies for online business
The best marketing strategies are the ones that get you noticed and found. Duh.
The truth is, all of the current online marketing strategies work. But they don’t all work for all businesses.
I believe the best marketing strategy for any business is to start with a well-optimized website and blog so that you start ranking in search.
Once you do that, just about any other marketing strategy will get people to your site and engaging with you and your content. So, make sure when they get there:
- Your message and who you serve is clear
- You have an enticing offer to get them on your email list
- You provide value with every piece of content you create
Need some help with the content part of being found online? Start here 👇
